Definition

1. Verb (Transitive):

   • To cause (an organism) to multiply or reproduce: To breed or generate new individuals of a species, either sexually or asexually.
   • To cause (an idea, belief, or information) to spread widely: To transmit or disseminate knowledge, news, or a doctrine to many people.
   • To transmit (a physical phenomenon) through a medium: To cause something like sound, light, or heat to travel through space or a substance.

2. Verb (Intransitive):

   • To multiply or reproduce: Of an organism, to produce offspring or new individuals.
   • To spread or be transmitted: Of an idea, disease, or physical phenomenon, to extend over an area or through a medium.

Usage Examples

• Transitive Verb:

  • Gardeners often propagate plants from cuttings. (They cause the plants to reproduce.)
  • The organization seeks to propagate its philosophy through education. (It causes its ideas to become widely known.)
  • Water propagates sound waves more efficiently than air. (It transmits sound.)

• Intransitive Verb:

  • This species of fern propagates by releasing spores. (It reproduces.)
  • Rumors about the merger propagated quickly through the office. (They spread.)

Advanced Usage

• In a technical/scientific context: Often used in physics, biology, and agriculture.
  • The research paper studied how electromagnetic waves propagate in a vacuum.
  • The virus propagated through the population before symptoms were widely recognized.

Variants and Related Words

• Propagation (n): The act or process of propagating.
  • The propagation of sound is a key concept in acoustics.
• Propagator (n): A person or thing that propagates.
  • He was a key propagator of the new theory.

Synonyms

• Transmit: To send or pass from one place or person to another.
• Disseminate: To spread something, especially information, widely.
• Breed: To produce offspring.
• Circulate: To move or cause to move continuously or freely.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Constructions

(Note: "Propagate" is not commonly used with particles to form phrasal verbs. Its meaning is typically expressed directly.) - Propagate itself: Used for ideas or phenomena spreading autonomously. - The myth propagated itself across generations.

Related Idioms

(Note: There are no common idioms centered solely on the word "propagate.")

Verb

1. multiply sexually or asexually
2. cause to propagate, as by grafting or layering
3. cause to become widely known
   • spread information
   • circulate a rumor
   • broadcast the news
4. transmit or cause to broaden or spread
   • This great civilization was propagated throughout the land
5. become distributed or widespread
   • the infection spread
   • Optimism spread among the population
6. transmit
   • propagate sound or light through air
7. travel through the air
   • sound and light propagate in this medium
8. transmit from one generation to the next
   • propagate these characteristics